The Road Not Taken
by PriestessOfNox
Summary: Starts at the end of X-Men 3 but goes through bits of each movie, focusing on X-Men First Class. Mild crossover with DC cartoon series Legion of Superheroes. Erik get offered a chance to change the past by a mysterious boy who comes to play chess. SLASH.
1. Chapter 1

09/26/11

I had this idea in my head for a while and really wanted an excuse to start it.

For those of you not familiar with Legion of Superheroes you won't need a lot of background knowledge to read this story. Those of you not familiar with the X-Men movies... might want to go watch them.

For those of you reading this from the club, I know the challenge for CxB week was "Sept 26: _Fusion Monday_: Make Clark and Brainy into characters from another show/book/type of media" but I think that works better visually. Instead I did a fusion of DC/Marvel Cartoon/Movies, etc...

Clark actually won't be in the story much, at least not for what I have currently planned, but he will be alluded to.

This will be largely X-Men focused.

The Road Not Taken

Chapter 1

The metal chess piece had moved. It had not floated gracefully into his hand like it once would have but it was a start. He could begin to feel the buzz of metal all around him again; watches, jewelry, bicycles, light poles, all surrounding in the park, right there buzzing in his mind but without the firm grasp needed to move them as he willed. The chess piece was all he had at this moment.

"Fancy a game?" a boy's voice asked him but when he, Magneto, or rather Erik as he was now, looked up it was a teenager with longish blond hair and the strangest magenta eyes. His mind tingled as he took his boy in, something wasn't quite right.

Not waiting for an answer the boy sat across from him and quickly, almost too quickly too be human, rearranged all the pieces on the board back into their starting pieces. That is with the exception of the piece Erik had in hand, the boy waited patiently for that one.

Erik withheld it, "You're not here for a game."

"True," the boy gave a nod, "but the game would be a bonus during our discussion."

"Why would I have anything to discuss with you?"

"It's about Xavier."

The name of his old friend gave Erik pause. There was so much in the deepest hollows of Erik's mind when it came to Charles that no one, not even Charles or he could ever fully grasp it; leaving it to forever be unspoken now-

"Charles is dead," Erik meant it to come out as a statement of fact not the pitiful declaration of mourning it sounded like out loud.

"He isn't in the past," the boy stated a rather remedial fact in a way that made him look like he was quite brilliant.

After a moment, Erik put down the chess piece, the buzzing in his brain blurring out the rest of the world whenever his boy spoke. He could give him one game.

"You must be some sort of genius," Erik's tone was appropriately sarcastic.

"Twelfth level actually," the boy stated; starting the game.

"Is that supposed to mean something," Erik followed suit.

"It will," the boy didn't even have to think of his next move.

"This will be a short conversation if you keep that up," Erik took his time moving his pawn.

"It doesn't have to be. The length of this conversation shall be determined by your answer to my question," again the boy barely blinked before making his move.

"And that is?" Erik drawled it out.

"What would you do for Charles Xavier?"

The question made Erik stop completely. First of all he wasn't sure what the boy meant. What could he do for someone who was dead? But they why the boy said it made him think the boy was ignoring the fact that Charles was dead or simply didn't care. The boy spoke of time and more specifically the past. Could this boy alter time? He had seen mutants with the power with the power to change their own cells to alter appearance to anyone no matter the age, sex or race. He had seen people transport themselves two miles as easily and as quickly as someone could blink an eye. Was it so hard to imagine that time was a substance that could be controlled and rearranged?

"What are you, boy?"

"That's a rather impolite way to phrase that question. You may call me Brainy; it's an unfortunate nick name but it won't give you any clues to my identity unless I reveal the whole picture to you."

"That's not what I asked."

"I'm not a mutant," Brainy stated simply, "But I'm not a mutant either."

"What else is there?" Erik frowned, "Don't tell me you're another Silver Surfer."

"Not even close but you're getting warmer."

"So unlike the Silver Surfer you're an alien actually made of metal," Erik made his move, the buzzing in his brain finally made clear.

"Red hot," Brainy didn't hesitate.

This time neither did Erik, moving his piece while forcing Brainy to meet his eye.

"You know I could rip you apart with a thought."

"I know you _could_ have," Brainy said evenly, "but this," he took the very piece Magneto had moved before the boy arrived, "is about all you can manage right now."

"I could be faking; why risk it?" Erik took a piece in return.

For the first time in front of Erik, Brainy hesitated. He played with the top of the King piece, almost like a caress.

"For completely selfish reasons," he stated, picking up another piece but not placing it back on the board; holding the game hostage. "You didn't answer my question."

"It is a hard question to answer," Erik admitted.

"I've been told answering honestly is easiest."

"Whoever said that had no consequences for speaking the truth."

"Perhaps or the consequences were worth speaking the truth."

Thoughts and memories tried to cloud Erik's mind as they often did when it came to Charles. He tried to distract himself with the metal he could sense within the boy; it was almost mesmerizing to even attempt to take it all in.

The metal was in his skin but there was flesh and pores so entwined with the metal it was almost one in the same. The eyes had metal as well and were bigger then what he saw on the surface and seemed to have layers. He could go deeper and follow veins, not through the iron in the blood but the vein itself would lead him in deep to the heart; all of this boy flesh and metal so smoothy coexisting it was like being a witness to perfection.

"That's doing nothing but mildly tickling me," Brainy brought Erik back to reality, whom had not realized in his excitement that he had began to pull a bit at the metal inside of him. It was almost hard for Erik to let it go. "Answer the question or I'm leaving."

The game was barely half finished but the cards were on the table and it was Erik's turn to deal.

"How much do you know about my and Charles' relationship?" Erik stalled.

"Only what has been recorded," Brainy spoke of time again. "That you were friends; even though you were on opposite sides and that you had actually started the school together. And when you were imprisoned he would come to visit; not to gloat but to play chess with you as we are now."

"Don't compare your self to him," Erik found himself snapping.

There was a moment where those magenta eyes just watched him but looked away when Brainy released his prisoner.

"Forgive me, it was unintentional."

The silence returned and images of fingerless gloves pressed to a temple came rampaging into Erik's mind as the owner of those fingers smiled and called him, "my friend" as he did from the very beginning to the very end.

"I would be lying if I said I would do anything for Charles," Erik moved his piece cautiously. "I couldn't see the world through his eyes, I couldn't compromise to his views and I couldn't stay by his side. I even used him as a means to my own end when he could have used my help and then… he was gone."

"You said _couldn't_ not _wouldn't,_" Brainy countered his move.

"What's the difference now?" Erik slammed his piece.

"What if I told you, you could go back and change a decision? Even if it was only a month ago or years ago but you could change something, would you take that chance?" Brainy moved his piece calmly, never taking his eyes off of Erik.

Silence was almost a third player in this game.

"Charles has been dead for over a month," Erik countered.

"The basic question remains the same."

Erik looked over the board; there were no more moves to make.

"I would take that chance a thousand times over." He tipped over his King.


	2. Chapter 2

09/30/11

A lot of dialogue in this one but it needed a bunch of explaining.

Oh and I SUCCEEDED in my daily update challenge for a month! I'm so happy I could cry... Now how to reward myself?

Chapter 2

With a nod and without a word the boy, Brainy, cleaned up the chess pieces and then stood and waited, his eyes never leaving Erik's face. It was as if he was telling him that he wouldn't be able to back out once the mutant had spoken those words; it had become a contract this somehow metallic and organic person made him sign his soul for.

Somehow Erik got the feeling he didn't need to bring his chess set, that even if he did he would never see it again. Still, he couldn't bring himself to leave it behind, it was the one he and Charles used to play with during the early days of the school. Charles had somehow tracked him down and sent to him the year after they went their separate ways for his birthday. He couldn't remember telling Charles his birthday but he couldn't find it in himself to be angry.

Still without words Brainy lead Erik away from the park and into town. He talked past only a couple of stores before turning into an alley. Though this gave reason for suspicion Erik didn't hesitate to follow him but he almost ran back out when there was a bright flash and suddenly there was a _floating sphere_ was suddenly in front of them.

"I don't suppose you can hop very well," Brainy used a remote, which Erik swore he didn't have before the alley, to make the sphere move down so it was barely above the floor and then it _opened_. "There, now you can waddle in."

"What makes you think I'll _waddle_ anywhere near that?" Erik shook his hand with the chess set towards the sphere.

"This will take us to what I need to give you your chance," Brainy climbed in, only half turning to face him. "If you can't handle this first, easy step then go back to the park and waddle your chest pieces until you die of old age, boredom or loneliness; it doesn't much matter to me."

For a moment Brainy's body shook.

"That barely did more then tickle this time," Brainy smiled. "Did I hit a nerve?"

"Shut up and move over," Erik forced his way into the sphere.

Now smirking Brainy pushed another button on the remote to close the doors. There was a hum and then Brainy opened the doors again before stepping out.

"Your floating sphere not working," Erik found himself smiling.

"It's called a time bubble," Erik could almost hear Brainy rolling his eyes. "And it worked just fine."

"You have some sort of strange obsession with time, don't-" Erik stopped when he made it to the "time bubbles" doorway. He was surprised his heart hadn't stopped as well.

Instead of an alley he was in some sort of laboratory. From floor to ceiling everything was machines, in fact even the floor and ceiling looked mechanical. There were counters covered in tools, chemicals, computers and even more machines and things that could be weapons. The hum of metal all around him surged in Erik's veins.

"Try not to tickle anything in here," Brainy lowered the time bubble again. "Things might explode rather then giggle."

Ignoring him, Erik stepped out and looked around. It was all new to him but yet somehow familiar. He stopped when he saw a table with straps and a metallic helmet covered in lights and connected to a giant machine boy wires.

A man long dead tried to make his way into Erik's mind but he refused to even think that monster's name. He wouldn't remember it or what he did.

Though Erik could hear Brainy walking around, moving things in the room around, his eyes were trapped by that table.

"That is what I brought you here for," stated Brainy.

"What does it do?" asked Erik.

"It will send you back so you can change things."

"Isn't that what your-"

"Time bubble."

"Your time bubble is for?"

"The time bubble can only take you through time as you are now. Do you honestly think if you spoke to your younger self it would make a difference? Don't answer that; it's rhetorical. Without experiencing the things you want to change it could never be as important to stop or alter the things you did; it would be forewarned but never fully informed. Without the full picture your younger self could makes things worse."

"Then I would go and change things myself."

"Oh yes, that's brilliant; two Magneto's running around more then likely killing each other. If I wanted to change the past that way I would have gone to the past and killed you myself."

"Then what are you suggesting? What exactly does this do?"

"Essentially it will kill you as you are now. It will only send your consciousness back in time and you will, in essence, take over your past self. You will have all the knowledge and memories of everything that happened but be who you were then physically. Unfortunately this is true for your powers as well; whatever level of powers you had then you will have even though you became much stronger since then."

"So I could be back in but not have the power to change anything."

"Exactly."

"Don't you know how powerful I will be? How far are you sending me back?"

"That's not up to me."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sending your consciousness; your mind is going to be in charge in how far back you're going to go. Unfortunately since you are the first to do this it's very possible you may stop in several different points in time until you make up your mind and stay in place long enough for the effect to wear off and allow your consciousness to settle."

"…I'm a lab rat?"

"I would think you would have been used to it by now."

Clenching his teeth, Erik swung around. He wasn't sure exactly what he had planned to do or say but he stopped when he saw his companion.

Brainy was green; not a feeling ill green but a dark emerald green stretched out across his skin. There were black lines along his joints; his mechanical side taking away his human like appearance. He was still blond but his eyes were bigger, the magenta taking up his entire eye in two shades and white vertical rectangles were his pupils. His clothes had changed to some sort of purple and black spandex uniform; a familiar white, three circle emblem on his chest and forehead.

"Brainiac," Erik gasped.


End file.
